The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had asked Ukrainian authorities to “immediately arrest and extradite” SBU chief Vasyl Malik and others, invoking two international conventions against terrorism.
According to Russian diplomacy, Maluk “planned the bombing of the Crimean bridge in October 2022 and disclosed details of the organization of other terrorist attacks in the Russian Federation”. “The Russian side demands that the Kyiv regime immediately cease all support for terrorist activities, extradite those responsible and compensate the victims for damages,” the statement added.
“Emotional”
It is unclear how Russia delivered on these demands, as Kiev severed diplomatic ties with Moscow shortly after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The SBU called him “worthless” and “blameless”. “Statements about terrorism are particularly reprehensible coming from a terrorist country,” he said.
Earlier in the week, Maluk, 41, who has led the SBU for a little over a year, on Tuesday mocked an arrest warrant issued against him by a Russian court as part of an investigation into the deadly explosion in 2022. On the Crimean Bridge, which connects Russia to this connected peninsula.
Crimea was annexed by Moscow in 2014 but is recognized internationally as part of Ukraine.
